Sunday, March 23, 2008

Hollywood Racism and Black Anger

Hollywood Racism and Black Anger

For the past few weeks, in the wake of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy, the question that keeps poppin' up is why are Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other black folks so angry ?

Sometimes we may even question ourselves.

For instance. This is a quiet Easter Sunday morning so I'm relaxing at the crib watching a little television. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the little kiddies are running around in their Easter bonnets getting ready for their Easter egg hunts.

"Who could be angry on a day like this," I thought as I engaged in a little channel surfing.

But as soon as I started humming the chorus from "We are the World," this popped up on my TV screen.

http://www.tcm.com/video/videoPlayer/?cid=16957

Tomorrow, night, 3/24 the movie "Trader Horn" is going to be show on Turner Movie Classics. This is the first non-documentary film shot in Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_Horn_(1931_film)

Apparently, the folks over at Turner Classic Movies are proud of that fact.

According to the promo, the movie is about a trader's encounter with "hordes of blood thirsty cannibals" and a white goddess that rules over savage pagan races.

Now, this is not the only movie that has portrayed African people in a negative light, it has always been a tradition in Hollywood. From the cannibals of "the dark continent" to the thugs and gangsters on the dark streets of the "inner city," Hollywood has always been racist.

I wonder if Dr. Wright saw movies like "Trader Horn" as a child? Maybe that can explain his "rage."

Unfortunately, the same white folks who have a problem with the Rev. Wright's of the world have no problem with movies like Trader Horn still being shown in 2008, as it is a part of historical "American culture."

I guess what black folks call racism, white folks call history.....

Min. Paul Scott's blog is http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com/ He can be reached at (919) 451-8283